Brave Browser
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Brave Browser is an open-source browser application focused on prioritizing user privacy and democratizing online advertising. It has been developed using the Chromium web browser as a basis. While many browsers are built upon Chromium code, such as Microsoft Edge and Opera, Brave is specifically focused on the user privacy niche and blocks all ads and trackers by default. Brave Software was co-founded in May 2015 by CEO Brendan Eich (creator of JavaScript and former CEO of Mozilla Corporation) and CTO Brian Bondy.[1] Brave is headquartered in San Francisco, CA. As of February 2021, Brave Browser had over 25 million monthly active users. [2]
Contents
Key Features
Ad and Tracker Blocking
Brave Browser blocks all ads and third-party trackers by default. On any given tab, the browser has an option to toggle a display to see how many items have been blocked on that particular page (cross-site trackers, connections upgraded to HTTPS, scripts blocked).[3] The Brave Browser does not serve individual user browsing data on its servers, unlike most other browsers; instead, all user data is aggregated before being returned to Brave's servers. The ads and trackers that are blocked by default can also be customized by the user at any time. [4] However, user browsing data is still saved on users' local devices in order to ensure that ads that they may opt-in to see are still relevant. Brave also advertises that the fact that all ads are blocked enables faster browsing times for the user.
Basic Attention Token (BAT)
The Basic Attention Token (BAT) is an Ethereum based token that can be traded on a wallet embedded in the browser itself. BAT is the unit of exchange used for browser features such as Brave Rewards (discussed in the next section). BAT had its initial coin offering (ICO) on May 31st, 2017 [5] In under 30 seconds, 1,000,000,000 BAT were sold for a total of 156,250 Ethereum. [6] BAT improves the efficiency of digital advertising by creating a new unit of exchange between publishers, advertisers, and users. BAT allows users to have greater agency over the ads they see online: users can block ads, pay to see different ads, or view ads and earn BAT tokens in exchange.[7] Advertisers also benefit from this model by achieving higher returns on advertising investment. This is delivered through better ad targeting (based on local user data) and reduced fraud.
Brave Rewards
Brave Rewards has a two-pronged benefit: it allows users to support their favorite content creators, and it allows users to earn money. For the former, Brave allows users to send their favorite content creators (YouTubers, Twitter users, blog owners, etc.) BAT (which can be converted to cash). This practice is known as tipping. Users can choose to either set up recurring payments or make a one-time payment. For the latter benefit, users can choose to earn money by opting in to view ads. Rather than traditional banner ads, Brave displays its ads as a push notification that users can choose to interact with. The aim of this ad format is to create a more engaging ad experience that benefits all parties involved.
Tor Integration
In the desktop Brave Browser application, users can opt to browse with Tor enabled by switching a toggle. Tor is an anonymity network that uses over seven thousand relays [8] to conceal a user's location and usage from network surveillance or traffic analysis.
Other features
- Auto-suggesting search terms and searching from the address bar
- IPFS Integration that allows users to browse without intermediaries
- Option to use DuckDuckGo for private window search
- Built-in password manager
- Fingerprinting prevention, cookie control, and HTTPS upgrading
- Support for most Chrome extensions
Ethical Considerations
Data Privacy
Data privacy while browsing online is arguably a primary point of contention regarding Internet privacy in the modern-day. Brave offers the most robust feature list on metrics related to online privacy and data ethics. By keeping all data local and privatized, Brave does not monetize user data the way other browsers do. Instead, its primary revenue driver is its usage of BAT [9]. This business model allows them to monetize while still returning 70% of revenue to Brave users themselves [10]. This allows for incentive alignment with users who are focused on privacy and Brave's monetization strategy and business model.
Online Advertising Ecosystem
The main concern with Brave's lack of individualized user collection is whether or not users would see relevant ads if they chose to opt-in to see ads in order to earn BAT. However, although Brave does not collect individualized user data, it still practices machine learning on aggregated and anonymized data to ensure that ads users see are relevant for them.[11] By approaching advertising this way, Brave alleviates ethical concerns of monetization user behavior data, while still employing machine learning as an effective tool to display relevant ads. By choosing to implement ads in-app instead of using a third-party ad service, Brave Browser also eliminates the controversial 3rd party ad broker and allows for revenue to be returned to the users.
References
- ↑ Brian Bondy. [1] Retrieved on 11 March 2021.
- ↑ Brave Browser. "Brave Blog" Retrieved on 11 March 2021.
- ↑ Brave website. [2] "Blog] Retrieved on 11 March 2021.
- ↑ Brave website. [3] "Blog] Retrieved on 11 March 2021.
- ↑ [4] Retrieved on 11 March 2021.
- ↑ [5] Retrieved on 11 March 2021.
- ↑ [6] Retrieved on 11 March 2021.
- ↑ http://torstatus.blutmagie.de/] Retrieved on 11 March 2021.
- ↑ https://gizmodo.com/brave-wants-to-destroy-the-ad-business-by-paying-you-to-1834283860] Retrieved on 11 March 2021.
- ↑ https://social.techcrunch.com/2019/04/24/brave-ads/] Retrieved on 11 March 2021.
- ↑ https://brave.com/intro-to-brave-ads/] Retrieved on 11 March 2021.
